Jason Meyer sets up solar power at his campsite at Canyon Moon Ranch for the upcoming music festival, Country Thunder 2025 on April 9, 2025, in Florence, Ariz. Festivalgoers arrive early to set up for the festival, which begins the following day.
Sacramento, California – California rooftop solar owners scored a major political victory this week after mounting fierce opposition to a bill that sought to slash the financial incentives they receive for producing excess energy. The legislation, introduced by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier), aimed to reduce net energy metering (NEM) subsidies by shortening the incentive period from 20 years to 10—potentially affecting thousands of residents who installed solar systems under long-term agreements.
But after a flood of protests, emails, and phone calls from solar advocates, lawmakers backed off.
At a Wednesday hearing of the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee, Chair Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) announced the bill had been amended to remove the controversial provision. “If we tell someone, ‘Hey, this is going to be a deal for 20 years,’ we can’t realize belatedly, ‘Oh my gosh, that was a little too generous, so we’re going to change the plan,’” she said.
The rollback was a direct response to the grassroots pressure. Solar supporters had protested outside Calderon’s office in the City of Industry and inundated lawmakers with phone calls and emails. Assemblymember Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel) said her phone had been “ringing off the hook,” while Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo (D-Santa Clarita) said she’d received more opposition to this bill than any other—by a factor of ten.
Even committee members acknowledged the scale of the pushback. Assemblymember Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin), a solar panel owner himself, noted he’d received 500 emails and hundreds of calls opposing the bill, compared to just one message in support.
The bill’s backers, including Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and utility worker unions, had argued that NEM unfairly shifts grid maintenance costs onto non-solar customers, contributing to rising energy bills. One witness testified that 5 cents of a recent 11 cent PG&E rate hike could be attributed to these subsidies.
“This inequity hits low-income customers, renters and customers in hot inland climates the hardest,” said utility lawyer Rachael Koss. “NEM truly is reverse Robin Hood.”
Still, the committee’s 10–5 vote to advance the now-amended bill left solar owners feeling vindicated. The bill retains provisions that would end subsidies when a home with solar panels is sold and cut off certain solar users from state climate credit payments—estimated to save $3.6 billion combined—but the heart of the bill has been defanged.
Calderon had claimed the original 10-year limit could have saved non-solar customers $54.4 billion by 2043. But with that piece stripped, solar advocates are celebrating what they call a major win for clean energy fairness and contract stability.
